It doesn't matter that they are considered one of the most influential rock bands in history, Quincy Jones has nothing good to say about The Beatles - particularly Ringo Starr. Though, in all honesty, he has few positive things to say about the rock genre in general.

Image caption Quincy Jones at the premiere of 'Sandy Wexler'

In a recent interview with Vulture, the 84-year-old multi-Grammy winning record producer opened up about everything from managing Michael Jackson to dating Ivanka Trump. But perhaps one of the most inflammatory comments he made was in records to John Lennon and Paul McCartney's legendary group The Beatles.

'They were the worst musicians in the world', said Quincy. 'They were no-playing motherf*****s. Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don't even talk about it.'

Though, in fact, he DOES talk about that... in great detail. We didn't even know that Quincy had ever been in the studio with The Beatles, but he recalls one time when Ringo was struggling with a piece, they suggested he take a break. And while he was doing that, Quincy and the band's long-time collaborator George Martin replaced his work with that of a percussionist from The Ted Heath Orchestra and The Syd Lawrence Orchestra.

'I remember once we were in the studio with George Martin, and Ringo had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song', he explains. 'He couldn't get it. We said, 'Mate, why don't you get some lager and lime, some shepherd's pie, and take an hour-and-a-half and relax a little bit'. So he did, and we called Ronnie Verrell, a jazz drummer. Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up.'

According to Quincy, it seems Ringo barely noticed the difference. 'Ringo comes back and says, 'George, can you play it back for me one more time?'' He continues. 'So George did, and Ringo says, 'That didn't sound so bad.' And I said, 'Yeah, motherf***** because it ain't you.' Great guy, though.'

He rememberes meeting Paul McCartney for the first time when he was 21, but despite knowing a great many titans of the rock industry, he remains unimpressed with that area of music in general. 'Rock ain't nothing but a white version of rhythm and blues', he says.